LINDEN, NJ–On Thursday afternoon, GMC Hoops traveled over to Linden High School for the first time this summer to see action from the Tuesday/Thursday Division of the 2009 Linden Summer League. On this night, the site saw two games including a non-conference matchup between Paterson Kennedy of Passaic County and the old NNJIL, and Immaculata from the Skyland Conference, and a contest involving one of the teams from the GMC in this league, St. Joseph’s, which was battling Susan Wagner of Staten Island in the nightcap. GMC Hoops has yet to receive the full schedule and list of teams competing in this league, but when it does, the information will be posted here to the blog.
Second Quarter Spurt Propels Paterson Kennedy Past Immaculata, 63-54
In the first game of this GMC Hoops doubleheader, and the third contest of this Thursday quadrupleheader at Linden, Paterson Kennedy, which has been a fixture in this league, took on Immaculata. The Spartans, which won the 2009 Somerset County Tournament as well as the Non-Public A State Championship before losing to Newark Science in the semifinal round of the Tournament of Champions at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton back in March, had a day off from the Bound Brook Summer League, but was still in action at Linden. The Spartans weren’t smarting after their loss to Bound Brook on Tuesday night, and battled Paterson Kennedy in a high scoring first quarter. However, in the second quarter, the Knights, which were 22-6 overall last season, took control of the contest with an 18-8 second quarter showing, and led by as many as 17 points in the second half before Immaculata finished strong with a 10-2 run for the 63-54 Kennedy victory.
Paterson Kennedy outhustled Immaculata, and beat the Spartans down the floor in the middle two periods after the Spartans traded baskets with the Passaic school in the first period. GMC Hoops arrived with the Somerville based school ahead by a score of 11-10 with 4:30 to play in the first. The Knights then tied things up at 11-11 with one of two free throws from the foul line at the four minute mark. Kennedy then went on a 6-2 run including a layup at the 3:55 mark, and a field goal at the 1:20 mark for a 17-13 lead. The Spartans struck back with a three pointer from the right wing with 1:08 to go in the period for a 17-16 Paterson Kennedy lead. Immaculata used the trifecta to go on a 7-2 run to end the period including a layup by Matt Dudzinski for a 20-19 lead heading into the second.
The second period was the most decisive of the game, and it ended up in the favor of the Knights. Paterson Kennedy started out fast with four points in the first 1:21 including a layup at the 8:39 mark for a 23-20 lead. The Knights then added a jumper from the right wing at the 6:24 mark for a 25-20 advantage, and after Immaculata scored for the first time in the period, struck again with a three pointer from the top of the key that banked in for a 28-22 with 4:37 to go in the half. Immaculata made one of two from the line for a five point, 28-23 Kennedy lead at the 3:43 mark. Almost a half minute later, the Knights went up by seven thanks to a pull-up jumper from the right side that made the score, 30-23 at the 3:15 mark. The Spartans cut the deficit to five again before Kennedy made one of two from the line for a 31-25 lead with 2:30 to play before the intermission.
Paterson Kennedy then outscored Immaculata by a 6-3 margin over the final two and a half minutes of the first period. The Knights got a three pointer from the left side at the 31 second mark for a 35-28 lead, and then two free throws with eight seconds to go before the brief break to take a 37-28 advantage into the intermission. Things started off shaky in the third as Immaculata gave up a score and committed turnovers on its first two possessions before the Spartans made two free throws at the 7:45 mark for a 39-30 Paterson Kennedy lead. The Knights scored the next four points as they outhustled the Spartans much to the disappointment of their head coach, Mike Frauenheim. Following a Spartan timeout, Immaculata showed signs of a rally with four straight points of its own, but then they got beat down the floor twice in a row for layups by Paterson Kennedy, which now led, 47-34 at the 1:58 mark. Both teams then scored four points each as Dudzinski scored a layup to close out the third period scoring with the Knights leading, 51-38.
In the fourth and final period, Immaculata got off to a good start with a three pointer from the right wing at the 9:38 mark that cut the deficit to ten at 51-41. Paterson Kennedy then responded with one of two from the line at the 9:04 mark and the 7:45 mark to go back up by twelve. The Knights added a layup on a follow for a 55-41 lead with 6:08 left. Immaculata would the reduce the deficit to a dozen again, but for the third time in the second half, the Spartans gave the points right back as the Knights came right back down for a score to go ahead, 57-43 with 4:58 to play. Paterson Kennedy then scored four of the next five points to go up 61-44 before Immaculata finished strong with nine of the final eleven points for the 63-54 Knight victory.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paterson Kennedy | 19 | 18 | 14 | 12 | 63 |
| Immaculata | 20 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 54 |
Rennard And Peterson Lift St. Joseph’s Over Wagner, 48-38
In the final game of the night at Linden, the Falcons of St. Joseph’s, which played over at Elizabeth earlier in the evening, took on Susan Wagner of Staten Island. Paced by 12 points from soon to be senior, Steve Rennard, and ten points from teammate, Eric Peterson, St. Joe’s was able to stay in control throughout despite the tenacity of Wagner, and win, 48-38. In this battle of Falcons, St. Joseph’s was only 17 of 48 overall from the floor including 5 of 20 from beyond the arc, and made 9 of 11 from the line in the victory. St. Joe’s only committed 11 turnovers in the contest while grabbing 12 offensive rebounds, and swatting 6 blocked shots. However, Wagner, which was 9-14 overall this past season, and 5-10 in the Staten Island A Division of the PSAL, had a strong inside game that gave St. Joe’s some trouble.
There was no scoring for the first 2:09 of the game until Wagner scored on a floater for a 2-0 lead. Peterson, who scored 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting including 2 of 3 from downtown, and picked up 4 rebounds and 2 assists as well, knocked down one of those treys for a 3-2 lead. Robbie Ashamole, who collected 7 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal, then added two free throws at the 6:54 mark for a 5-2 advantage. Rennard, who made the other three treys as well as a field goal, and one of two from the line while picking up a rebound, three assists, three steals, and a block, completed the 8-0 run with a deep three from the left side that made the score, 8-2 at the 5:43 mark. Susan Wagner then made one of two from the foul line at the five minute mark for an 8-3 St. Joe’s lead with five minutes to go in the first.
Andrew Morgan, who had 6 points on the night as well as two offensive rebounds, two assists, and four steals, got on the board when he scrapped for an offensive rebound, and was fouled on the follow, which resulted in two free throws at the 3:19 mark for a 10-3 lead. Wagner then came up with two scores over the next 1:19 including a basket inside at the 2:39 mark, and another field goal at the two minute mark to draw within three at 10-7. The Falcons from Staten Island had a chance to get even closer when it grabbed an offensive board, but missed on the follow with 1:19 left in the period. Morgan then got a field goal on a layup to put St. Joseph’s up by five with 42 seconds remaining in the first, but Wagner, which ended the period with a 6-2 run closed out the scoring with a hook shot in the paint at the 29 second mark for a 12-9 score after one. In the opening period, St. Joe’s was only 3 of 13 from the floor including 2 of 6 from beyond the arc, and made 4 of 4 from the line while committing three turnovers.
In the second quarter, Wagner started out right where it left off with a layup underneath that trimmed the St. Joe’s edge to just a point at 12-11 just five seconds into the period. However, the Falcons from Metuchen put a halt to their run by scoring the next four points including a layup by Nick Straughn (4 points on 2 of 4 shooting, and a steal). Susan Wagner compounded their problems by missing both free throws after being fouled on an offensive rebound and follow at the 8:30 mark. Wagner recovered from the foul line failure by scoring the next four points including a layup with 7:28 left in the half, and another score down low at the 6:15 mark for a 16-15 St. Joseph’s lead. The Falcons from Staten Island, which was on a 14-6 spurt after trailing early 10-3, scored on a layup off a loose ball for its first lead since the 7:51 mark of the first at 17-16 with five minutes to go in the half.
St. Joseph’s then replied with a 9-0 run of its own that included one of two from the line by Ashamole at the 4:06 mark, and a three pointer from the left wing by Rennard off a pass from Slay Sudah at the 3:15 mark. After St. Joe’s had taken a 25-17 lead at the 1:58 mark of the second, Wagner closed out the quarter with four of the final six points of the half for a 27-21 St. Joseph’s lead at the intermission. In the third, St. Joseph’s started out strong with the first four points of the second half including an offensive rebound and putback by Ashamole for a 31-21 lead with 7:18 to go in the frame, but Wagner bounced back. First, the Falcons from New York got kind bounces on both of their free throws to pull within single digits at 31-23 with 6:38 to go in the period. Then, after St. Joseph’s scored the next five points on a pull-up jumper by Peterson from Sudah at the 4:55 mark, and a Rennard three pointer from Peterson at the 4:24 mark for a 36-23 lead, Wagner rallied with seven unanswered points to end the stanza to pull within six at 36-30 heading into the fourth.
In the final period, St. Joe’s went up by eight as Straughn got his final points of the game on a jumper at the 8:50 mark for a 38-30 score. Wagner promptly responded with two free throws at the other end on its next possession to pull within six again, but then the Falcons got a three point play at the 7:04 mark to go ahead by nine, and then Peterson got an offensive rebound off of a missed three by Renard, and put it back in after neither team scored for over two and a half minutes for a 43-32 lead with 4:30 remaining. There would be another lull in the scoring until Wagner got back to within eight on a three pointer from the left wing at the 3:11 mark for a 43-35 score. Shortly afterward, St. Joseph’s called for time at the 2:56 mark, and head coach, Dave Turco set up a play for Rennard off the side out of bounds. Peterson threw a lob pass to Rennard, who cut to the basket for an easy layup, and a 45-35 lead with 2:51 to go.
Rennard then helped finish off the victory with a one of two showing from the charity stripe with exactly two minutes left for a 46-35 lead as St. Joe’s won the Battle of Falcons by a final score of 48-38.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph’s | 12 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 48 |
| Susan Wagner (S.I.) | 9 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 38 |
GMC Hoops will be back out at the Linden Summer League sometime next week to check out the action there again.